HOW-TO:Submit a feature request
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OUTDATED: Some information in this article or section has not been updated or refers to XBMC features that have been superseded, and may not be reliable. |
This article is meant as a guideline for submitting official feature requests to Team-XBMC via the project's (Trac based) tracking system.
Note! If you are thinking of contributing code to the project, please see "Appendix D: Development Notes".
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1 HOW-TO submit an official feature request
You can log a NEW feature/function request in our Feature Request Tracking System, (you must first have registered an account on XBMC Community Forum and login on our (Trac based) tracking-system, if you are already registered on on the XBMC Community Forum then know it is the same login so no need to re-register, note that both the username and the password for the login are case-sensitive).
Just make sure that you first remember to search for existing "Feature Requests" before logging a new request! You should take note that we guesstimate that 99% of all new requests XBMC users post have already been requested before so it is imperative that you search thoroughly!
You may also post a copy of your suggestion in the feature-suggestion section of our community-forums if you want it open for discussion, however, again you must search there too before you can post, (we do not enjoy reorganizing duplicate posts). Please respect that your request only counts as a suggestion, there' s no guarantee that it will implemented soon or ever.
Known that almost all users think their own ideas is the most important, and a very common comment is: "if you only add these features then XBMC will be perfect for me". Note! Only one feature per RFE Request and Forum Thread is allowed (for easier manageability).
1.1 Something to think about before submitting the request
We recommend that you read this article on How To Ask Questions The Smart Way. Arrogant and 'pushy' people will most likely just be ignored (or even banned if they step over the line which we consider to be acceptable).
1.1.1 How to ask for something in a smart way
The How To Ask Questions The Smart Way article contains some very wise words to follow in online communities if you would not like to ignored or treated as a stupid person. It covers areas like:
- When You Ask
- Use meaningful, specific subject headers
- Make it easy to reply
- Write in clear, grammatical, correctly-spelled language
- Send questions in accessible, standard formats
- Be precise and informative about your issue
- Don't claim that you have found a bug
- Grovelling is not a substitute for doing your homework
- Describe the problem's symptoms, not your guesses
- Describe your problem's symptoms in chronological order
- Describe the goal, not the step
- Don't ask people to reply by private e-mail
- Be explicit about your question
- Don't flag your question as "Urgent", even if it is for you
- Courtesy never hurts, and sometimes helps
- Follow up with a brief note on the solution
- How To Interpret Answers
- RTFM and STFW: How To Tell You've Seriously Screwed Up
- If you don't understand...
- Dealing with rudeness
- On Not Reacting Like A Loser
- Questions Not To Ask
- Q: Where can I find program or resource X?
- Q: How can I use X to do Y?
- Q: How can I configure my shell prompt?
- Q: Can I use this to do that with this other thing?
- Q: Your/My {program, configuration, SQL statement} doesn't work
- Q: Your/My program doesn't work. I think system facility X is broken.
- Q: I'm having problems installing Linux or X. Can you help?
- Good and Bad Questions
- If You Can't Get An Answer
- How To Answer Questions in a Helpful Way
2 Frequently Asked Questions regarding Feature Requests
2.1 When will this and that feature or function be supported by XBMC?
XBMC development is driven by the tasks that are important to the individual developers, none of whom are paid for what they do on the project. If there is a feature that is important to you, the best way to get it implemented is to undertake the task yourself, otherwise you have no rights to demand new things to be implemented and get no guarantees that some specific thing will be prioritized before something else. You may however suggest/request for things and if you ask nicely. A developer might then likes your idea and implement the thing you asked for.
